Online Platforms and Consumers Thesis

The revolution of technology has over time kept on revolutionizing the markets of traditional markets and brought marketers to a different business interaction and a new era. The relationship in the market among the ultimate consumers, retailers and the channels of distribution has also revolved. It is evident that when companies interact with individuals and go abut with their businesses, they keep on generating an amount of digital exhaust data that is tremendous. Online platforms, social media sites, technological devices such as smartphones, iPad , tablets and computers or laptops have enabled many individuals around the world to participate and contribute to the amount of big available data. With a focus on the enormous amount of campaigns on online sites, social media sites, sales emails, ecommerce websites and forums, it is well evident that companies regardless of their sizes have been translating their approaches of marketing to the internet because of it being able to offer accessibility to the audience in target and the required money to do so (Sparks et al.

The average number of time spent on social networks per person is up to seven hours per month. Consumer behavior changes due to online platforms and social media are one of the very intriguing contemporary marketing aspects. Acknowledging and realizing that the behavior of consumers is a relatively broad and general topic and it is therefore challenging for investigators to inspect, gather and conclude all necessary findings and data into one research and therefore the researcher having to make the focus narrow down in association with the process of decision making (Zhang et al. That associates with marketing y the use of online shops and social media platforms. The main objective of the research is to explain the when, how and why online shopping has impacted the decision making process of the consumer.

What are the factors determining the consumers decision in online purchase that is retail? 5. What is the influence of the new media to the consumers’ decision making? 6. How has the new media impacted the active consumers of retail that are related to the decision making and consumer communication? Significance of the study The study highlights and introduces the background of the research, the researchers’ motivation and the research questions as well (Sotiriadis & Van Zyl, 2013). The study also provides the literature review that shows online platforms, consumer and the relation and impact between the consumer behavior and the online platforms. The study gives a well discussed process of decision making that is well elaborated so as to provide and give the involved components in the process just before an actual buying or purchase takes place and ho customers and consumers are affected during the period of the processing of the information before a purchase (Leung et al.

It is because the previous or former theory explained the stages in the process of decision making clearly when he others denoted the psychological factors in the process. They are also closely linked to each other on the basis and focus of their objectives. Limitations of the study Factors such as infrastructure, technology, cultural values, norms and others across different continents are different. Therefore, the implication and impact of the research may vary according to the countries therefore the research has made a target to a geographical area that have individuals relatively sharing a similar background within an infrastructure that is standardized (Hutter et al. There is a focus in the research on the behaviors of end individual customers and within a particular retailing industry, for example food and beverage, clothing, consumer electronics and others.

In relation to consumers and buyers, there is a slight difference (Solomon et al. Buyers are the people who act either as industrial, ultimate or institutional purchasers. The consumer is the individual who for ultimate use merely where it is more restrictive in the manner of the meaning. The end users for whom the services or products are designed ultimately for. Businesses inevitably encounter bottlenecks where the information is not getting the prospects and consumers at times, prospects and consumers are facing blocks that are significant in the process of decision. In this case filter is the way of being overlooked because of too much information in the marketplace competition. The information search is the second stage where the final purchase decision are not made at once regardless of whether the individuals have recognized and acknowledged their problems and there is now paid attention to the products that are available.

In other view, when prospects have a given interest in a service or product, they tend to undergo the following steps before undergoing any action. It may include available options being identified, information of selected options being studied and lastly being able to decide and judge which of the options most deliver outcome that is the best (Huang & Benyoucef, 2013). The sources of information can be split into two main types, the external and the internal. Experience that is direct is not always preferred since the people are inexperienced towards products that are specific and may result the use of it in a manner that is unskilled and have experiences that are negative with it. Most times, if experiences that are negative take pace, they are most times more costly in terms of time and financially, damaging to reputation or risky (Hudson & Thal, 2013).

After the choice alternatives assessment, consumers come up with beliefs that regard the alternatives, which guide their intentions, attitude and ultimately their choice that include among alternatives. Despite that, studies have given findings that are evident which the decision maker always seek ways to make simple the process of evaluation when decisions become more complex. Final decision is the fourth stage where it is suggested that in the period of evaluation, consumer mostly form preferences in the brands in the choice desk. There are two potential outcomes that are derived from the phase of dissonance or satisfaction. When there is the experience of the consumer facing dissonance towards the purchase, there is devalue of choice and the consumer starts the process of obtaining information, searching and other options evaluations for future decisions to buy which then trigger new behavior.

In this phase, the consumer decides if they are going to move from just implementing the product and make it a full adaption. Whether to keep using the product or service repeatedly and whether to repurchase or not. It is well evident since the consumer has a choice on the frequency of usage, products priority and new uses of the new circumstances. The platforms have also enabled the marketing and advertising to get to many more people. Online platforms and Consumer The relation between the new media and online shopping to the consumer is that the online platform has enabled and provided a means in which consumers can air out their opinions and their voice can be hard. As the world of business revolves around delighting and serving customers, it is evident that online platforms impacts brand awareness, sales and loyalty.

As an effect, online platforms data impacts their way of deciding while making forecasts or predictions (Cantallops & Salvi, 2014). Much awareness in the platforms results to more chances of consideration that may result in more chances of a purchase. The primary data were put together by use of questionnaires. The data collection and the research data were done in two very different research methods. They included the qualitative and the quantitative. It involves collecting data for the target and purpose of getting information from them so as to answer and solve a particular research question or problem. Data that is qualitative is any technique of data collection or procedure of data analysis which uses or generates numerical data. , Kabadayi, S. , Gruber, T.